Robyn Jacobs: Ace Attorney--Episode 2: Fastest Wits
by T. D. Prince
Summary: She runs. That's all she can do. Going past trees, animals, and people. She has to run. The faint voice of her mother echoes in her mind- "Whatever you do, do it quickly." She looks in the corner of her eye, and she sees them chasing after her. She doesn't know where to go.
1. Chapter 1

She runs. That's all she can do. Going past trees, animals, and people. She has to run. The faint voice of her mother echoes in her mind- "Whatever you do, do it quickly." She looked in the corner of her eye, and she sees them chasing after her. She doesn't know where to go.

"It's been a long time since I've had a Wod-Fam-Choc-Sod," I said as I parked the car in McAlester Park.

"Robyn, what's a 'wod-fam-choc-sod'?" Maurice, my assistant said.

"Well, Ms. Maurice, that's Mr. Whittaker very World Famous Chocolate Soda! At least world-famous in Odyssey"

"You Americans have a very strange way of saying 'Local Homemade Chocolate Soda'! Or should I say, "Loc-Hom-Choc-Sod'?"

I laughed. "Oh, Maurice. Anyway, we better get outside. It's kind of stuffy in here."

"Agreed," Maurice said. We got out of the car and walked up to the main porch of the Victorian building.

I opened the door for Maurice, saying in a posh, sarcastic accent, "Royalty first!"

"Oh, Robyn." She laughed and we both entered the building. A familiar, old gentleman was at the counter.

"Well, hello Robyn; Maurice!" Mr. Whittaker said. "How have my two favorite lawyers been?"

"It's been busy," I said. "How long has it been since we were last here?"

"Oh, around two or three months," Mr. Whittaker said.

"It feels shorter," Maurice said.

"Well, time flies," I said.

"Anyway, what can I get you, ladies?" Mr. Whittaker said.

"I'll have a Loc- I mean, Wod-Fam-Choc-Sod," I said.

"I think I'll have a simple cone of strawberry ice-cream," Maurice said.

"A Wod-Fam-Choc-Sod and a strawberry cone are on the way!' Mr. Whittaker got straight to work preparing our sweets.

A girl, around sixteen years, went behind the counter and grabbed some paper towels. "Here they are Connie!" She said.

"Thank you, Jules," Connie came up and said.

"Hello, Connie!" I said.

"Oh, hi Robyn! Hi Maurice! It's been a while." She replied as Jules handed her the paper towels. "Oh, I don't think you've met my sister, Jules."

"Sister!?" Both Maurice and I exclaimed.

"Yep," Jules replied. "Really half-sisters, though."

"Ah. I once had a step-brother, so I have a sense of what it feels like," Maurice said. She sighed. "You probably have a much better relationship though."

"And here you go!" Mr. Whittaker came and brought me the chocolate soda and Maurice the strawberry cone.

"Well, I better let you two ladies enjoy your ice-cream," Connie said. "And we have to finish cleaning up." She eyed Jules.

Jules sighed. "Alright. Bye Robyn; Maurice."

"Tschüss!" Maurice said.

"Choose?" Jules questioned.

"Goodbye!" Maurice laughed.

I casually sipped some of my Chocolate Soda. "Your soda looks more like a blended latte," Maurice said.

"It's more of an ice-cream float," I said.

"Ah. Well, is it good?"

"Pretty good. How's your ice-cream?"

"Better than most I've had. Maybe I'll order a pint."

"A pint? For what?"

"To take back to my manor of course! A lawyer that doesn't understand buying a pint to bring home-"

The door barge open. A young, teenage girl went running past.

"Who was that?" Maurice said, brushing a tassel of her blonde hair.

"I don't know, but something about her movement seemed like she was worried," I said.

"What was that about somebody being worried?" Mr. Whittaker came out of the kitchen.

"A young girl just came running in here," Maurice said.

"She looked worried," I repeated. I placed my soda on the counter and 'fast-walked' in the direction the girl ran. Maurice and Mr. Whittaker follow suit. We passed through the Bible Room and the Library, but she wasn't there.

After a few minutes of searching Train Room, Maurice said: "Well, where could she be?"

"It's like she vanished," I said.

"Wait, are you hearing what I'm hearing?" Whit said. Maurice and I stayed quiet. A faint crying could be heard. "It sounds like it's coming from the Little Theatre." We began the walk to the Little Theatre.

When we arrived we slowly opened the door to the huge auditorium. We walked down the steep floor, looking for any sign of the girl.

"Hallo," Maurice said in a sweet, English accent (it surprised me because Maurice always used a harder, still sweet, but harder German accent). She sat down on one of the seats next to a crying girl. "O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine Blätter!" Maurice sang. I smiled. I didn't know why she was singing "O Christmas Tree". But it did calm the girl breathed in and stopped crying.

"Hallo, miss. I'm Maurice von Karma."

"I'm Alexa," the girl said.

"How old are you, Alexa?"

"14," she sniffled.

Mr. Whittaker and I had walked over to the two already.

"Well, hello Alexa. I'm Mr. Whittaker."

I smiled. "And I'm Robyn."

"Mr. Whittaker? Do you own this place? Am I not supposed to be here?"

"Alexa, this is a place where kids can be kids. It's a place of kindness and love. And yes, I am the owner of this building."

"Okay," she sighed. "Oh, Ms. Maurice, what was that song you were singing? I've heard it before, I think."

"O, Tannenbaum. You Americans sing 'O Christmas Tree'." She laughed. "It was the first song that I thought of," she smiled sheepishly.

"Well, Alexa, would you like some ice-cream? It's On-the-House," Mr. Whittaker said.

"Sure, I guess," Alexa said.

"Well, let's go to the front and I'll get you some. What's your favorite flavor?"

"Sea Salt Caramel."

"Well, then, one Sea Salt Caramel cone on its way."

That was the start of an adventure. And a case, a very hard and tragic case. A tangled web to be sure. I'll call this case "Fastest Wits."


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you for the ice-cream, Mr. Whittaker," Alexa said, finishing her cone.

"Oh, it's no problem," Mr. Whittaker said.

Alexa shifted her eyes between the three of us. "I guess I should tell you why I just ran in here."

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, it seems right to give you an explanation. You see, I'm an orphan. My parents died just a few years ago so my uncle took me in. Well, if you believe his story."

Maurice sipped her hot chocolate solemnly. "What do you mean by that?"

"Really, I think my parents may still be alive. My mom and my uncle didn't really get along too much. My uncle said they died in a car accident, but I don't believe him. He's hiding some secret from the government, and she knew it. He owns some big company up in Chicago."

"How did you end up here in Odyssey?" I asked.

"I ran. My mom said that if anything happened to her, I was to run to a town called Odyssey, saying 'the people there would know what to do'. So that's why I'm here now."

"What's your uncle's company, if I may ask?" Mr. Whittaker said, with a look of concern.

"It was named after some galaxy I think- Centaurus Technology or something like that."

"I have some connections in Chicago. I may be able to check into it."

"Oh, thank you. Mom was right at least."

I was both saddened and troubled by the situation. If there was any illegal activity going on, it was very concerning if Alexa was connected to it. I looked up at Maurice, who was mumbling something. She looked up at Mr. Whittaker and said: "It couldn't have anything to do with that _one _company, would it?"

"That's what I'm afraid of, Maurice. And if it is, there's no doubt something evil is happening."

I was confused with Maurice's statement. What company was she referring to? She turned back to Alexa and said, "So, Alexa, do you have a place to stay?"

The girl looked sheepishly at Maurice. "No, I don't."

"Well, if it isn't any trouble, you could stay at Montelli House with me."

"Montelli House?"

"That's the name of my manor."

"Manor?"

* * *

I drove up the country road, Maurice on my left and Alexa in the back. Maurice told me where to turn and so on, and I was a bit curious, seeing as I had never seen her manor before. Finally, I turned to the drive it was on. I parked, aghast. The manor looked to be three front was ornately decorated with hedges and bushes, while the white paint of the wood was kept in pristine condition.

Getting out of the car, I turned to Maurice and said, "This is your manor?"

"Yes, Montelli House is very nice looking. A bit old-fashioned, mind you, and smaller than most of my father's manors, but still quite nice," Maurice said. Alexa looked up at the manor, awestruck. Maurice smiled. "Well, let's not just stand here, you're my welcomed guests after all."

She opened the door and we walked inside. The front hall was tidy and neat. A painting of Maurice was hung on the left, and one of her father, presumably, on the right. The wood floor hardly creaked as we entered her living room to the right. "Make yourself at home, Alexa," Maurice said as she quickly dusted off a shelf. Alexa and I sat down on a couch.

"So, do you have a maid, or do you keep the house by yourself?" Alexa curiously asked.

Maurice laughed. "Of course I have a maid. I'm not here most of the day- I'm Robyn's secretary!"

Alexa's face turned to shock. She turned to me and said, "Wait, this rich lady is your secretary? Shouldn't that be the other way around?"

I joined in Maurice's laughter. "Well, maybe, but every lawyer needs a secretary- and at times an assistant."

"Wait, you're a lawyer?"

"Yep."

"And that reminds me, my car's at the office," Maurice sighed. "Well, anyway, it's getting late. Alexa, we need to get you to bed. You can stay in the guest room on the second floor. Third room to your right. O, and Robyn, I guess you could stay in the guest room on the third floor, the first door to the left."

Alexa got up and ran up the stairs. Maurice smiled and sat down in a chair next to the couch. "Children have so much energy."

"So did we when we were middle-schoolers," I said.

"I for one am glad that I'm not young. That might change once I see 30 as young, however."

I smirked. "Yes, you're right. Anyway, I'm going to head to bed. Good night."

"Night."

* * *

"Yes, of course. I see," Mr. Whittaker ended the phone call. He'd spent the majority of the night talking on the phone, but his last call was probably his most important.

"Hey, Dad," Jason said.

"Jason, it seems they're back. And possibly bigger. Absolom took over the kingdom."

"And David ran from him. Well, looks like I'll be making a few phone calls."

"What do you think I've been doing all day. Good night, son."

"It probably won't be."


End file.
